I reminded myself that if something were to happen again, a kiss or maybe even more, that William probably would just be having fun. But maybe I could be okay with that?
By February, William had started a weekly lunch meeting with Creekstone’s fledgling Chamber of Commerce. He invited me to join them, saying that it’s nice to have city employees join the conversation. I went to the first few meetings. Nick always opened the meetings, but William led the networking activities before the lunch, and he introduced the speakers that presented during the plated lunch. I liked seeing the work side of William. He was charming and charismatic, but he never corrected or overtalked people. He always had control of the room. Seeing William’s composure and professionalism was such a stark contrast to the memory of New Year’s Eve. Part of me liked knowing there was a part of William that could be passionate and heated. Part of me liked remembering the way he couldn’t keep his hands off me that night. I knew there was much more to William. I wondered if he still felt that for me.
At the end of each meeting, William gave an update on the town’s redevelopment project. When William brought in some large renderings of the potential development and displayed them on easels, we could see the whole vision for a new Creekstone. At the conclusion of each meeting, I would hear business owners and community members comment on how excited they were about the redevelopment effort and how, for the first time in a long time, they felt hope. Ms. Patty and Ms. Pearl both commented that they loved the vision.
At the end of February, William brought in a speaker to talk about small business support. It was the woman I’d seen with him on New Year’s Day, Meredith. She was as smart as shewas beautiful, and I felt an inexplicable jealousy. For the last two months, I’d been going on dates and sometimes eventellingWilliam about them, and he had carried on as if we were just the greatest friend. And William brought Meredith to one chamber lunch to talk about resources for businesses, and I felt so jealous I could barely make it through lunch. I bolted as soon as it was over.
The next day William ignored any ice daggers I threw his way and continued on, just as a good friend would. He waited for me after closing at the library. Then he walked home with me, even though I was almost silent. When we got home, he followed me into the kitchen. William busied himself with making me a cup of tea. We sat in silence until the kettle whistled. Then as William poured the water over the tea bag, I blurted out, “Have you slept with Meredith?”
“Excuse me?” William coughed, nearly spilling hot water everywhere.
“Meredith. The two of you have worked together and seem so familiar with each other. I wondered if there was more going on.” I looked down at my tea, acting as if watching it steep needed my full attention.
William pressed his lips together to prevent a smile and put the kettle down. “I have slept with Meredith. A very long time ago. In college. And we realized we weren’t suited for each other and became friends.”
I sniffed. “Oh, that’s a shame. She’s beautiful.”
William’s lips parted and his head tilted like he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself.
“Let’s go watch the next movie on our Christmas list,” I said leaving the kitchen. I heard William’s feet padding behind mine, and we settled onto the sofa. We watched the movieThe Holiday.William acted totally normal. He seemed unphased by the cold shoulder I had been giving him for two days. Heseemed committed to waiting it out until things normalized, and I loathed and adored this about him.
Chapter 12: William
I can’t say how many times I replayed the conversation that happened on Christmas Eve. I couldn’t remember ever telling Kit that she should casually date other men, and if I could travel back in time, I would tell myself to shut the fuck up, because Kit Campbell was the most amazing thing that ever almost happened to me, and watching Kit date other people was hell on earth.
The worst part was that Kit was perfectly happy dating other people. Apparently, the amazing New Year’s Eve dancing, kissing, and near sex had primed Kit perfectly to go out and find someone else. Normally, I wouldn’t have been deterred by this. I would have made a harder play to get with Kit again. But the reality was, I needed things to stay relatively uneventful between the two of us because I needed Kit to sell her land to Braithway & Randall. Not dating Kit simplified things tremendously, but even with this promotion on the line, I kept going back to that night with Kit in my mind.
I tried not to pay any attention to Kit’s dating life. I tried to focus on just being friends, but then she started telling me about it, and sometimes she would talk about it with Aunt Ritain front of me, just nonchalantly, the way friends would. It was fucking terrible. But the absolute worst was when I’d see Kit’s phone light up on the table and I’d see Matt’s name would flash on the screen. Or when I’d hear Aunt Rita casually mention that Matt had sent her a note saying he was applying for fellowships in Atlanta. Even though Kit showed no actual interest in Matt, I felt jealous of him. I felt jealous of the history and pull he had in Kit’s life.
Even though it hurt to see Kit happily navigate the world of dating, I couldn’t fully cut myself off from her. I made an excuse to be at the library every Tuesday and Thursday night because I knew she’d be closing on those nights and would be walking home. Those short walks home were my favorite fifteen minutes of the entire week. When we’d get to the house, we’d warm up by the fire or make tea. I wanted to spend more time with her, so I insisted that she had to watchGame of Throneswith me, and the only reason I picked that show was because I knew it had long episodes and several seasons. She agreed to TuesdayGame of Thronesif I would watch holiday movies with her on Thursday nights. I agreed and tried not to show my delight when I saw the long list of movies and holiday themed-TV episodes she had put together. I was happy to see that she was thinking of spending that much time with me, even if it was just watching holiday movies on the sofa.
BeingjustKit’s friend was a double-edged sword. It was agony not being able to explore the feelings I had for Kit, but at the same time, spending time with her and being a regular part of her Tuesday and Thursday evenings gave me a purpose. I powered through long days of work on Monday and Wednesday so I would always be free on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I dreaded Fridays and Saturdays when Kit would go on dates with other guys. And, when Kit started going on second and third dates with guys, I found myself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, andwondering not justwhen,butif,she had returned home from her dates. It was destroying me. I started finding reasons to be gone on weekends, so I couldn’t sit around and obsess over it.
On one of the weekends, I went to Atlanta. I spent all day on Saturday in the office, and sometime around six p.m., Meredith and Addison appeared in the doorway, holding hands. Meredith was wearing flowy tan linen pants with a white top, and Addison was wearing a matching tea-length dress.
“What are you two doing in town?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.
Meredith leaned against my office doorway. “I’m in town for a deal. Marla gave us tickets to a show tonight. She left them on her desk for me. We stopped by to get them. I think the better question is, what are you doing here?”
“Just catching up on some work,” I said, gesturing toward my desk. “It’s a lot easier to get some of these things done with the big desktop screens.”
“Uh-huh.” Meredith seemed skeptical. She and Addison exchanged looks.
“We’ve actually seen this show before on Broadway. Why don’t we skip it and take you out to dinner?” Addison suggested.
“No way!” I protested. “You can’t let those nice outfits go to waste. Go to your show.”
“William, please. Wherever we eat dinner will be nice; these outfits will be appropriate, and you will be woefully underdressed and potentially under-showered for it,” Meredith scoffed. “We’re not going slumming with you, my friend.”
Addison stepped forward. “Do you have a button-down here you can change into?”
I did, and with a little more pushing, Addison was able to convince me to go into my office bathroom, splash some water on my face, and put on the emergency white shirt I kept at the office. Addison picked Nikolai’s Roof, an upscale downtownrestaurant on the thirtieth floor of an Atlanta high-rise. It was a stark contrast to The Pub in Creekstone. The white tablecloth restaurant was known for its panoramic view of Atlanta.
Meredith ordered a bottle for the table as well as starters, but waved the waiter away when they suggested the caviar menu. “This is an old friends dinner. No need.”
Addison and I ignored Meredith. We were both used to her take-charge-no-bullshit persona.
“So, tell me,” Addison started. “Meredith tells me you’ve been living in that tiny town, Creekstone, since December. How has that been?”
